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Season 8: What worked, what didn't
momaw
Member Posts: 0 Arc User
No official feedback thread?
The Voth are cool.
They have a definite sense of identity, in the gear they use, their ship designs, and common tactical themes. They feel very much like a faction rather than a bag of generic parts. They're challenging to fight but not completely unfair.
The dinosaurs are goofy.
Seriously? You have a faction with giant mechs and it wasn't cool enough , so you had to give them dinosaurs?
The battlezone is fun and rewarding
Unlike some other reputations *cough* Nukara *cough*, I don't see myself ripping my hair out when I have to fight in the battlezone for the next few weeks. The payout is good and it's a solid way to give objective-based team gameplay without waiting for a queue.
The sphere space adventure is terrible by comparison
I feel bad for everybody that hates ground combat, because the space parts of the sphere are a convoluted mess next to the battlezone. It takes ages to get around, the quest system is alternately confusing and simplistic, and the rewards per time investment are laughable.
New instances are well done
Both of the new instances are fun to play and give the proper amount of strategic depth: Enough that planning pays off, but not so much that random teams are boned right out of the gate.
New instances are very confusing for first timers
Both of the new instances are poorly explained. They make perfect sense once you understand what's going on, but the briefings don't really help. Basically you're going to be incredibly confused and frustrated unless you play with an experienced team or watch a walkthrough.
Faster rep projects for grinders...
If you sit around and keep pressing the button, the new hourly project is a great accelerator.
...but we need the big projects for everybody else
This is going to be a very slow reputation for most people because we don't have 2 "big" projects this time around to set and forget. Which I think was a mistake.
Sets with an identifiable theme
I'm very interested to learn more about the Dyson ground set because it has a definite role and that role is one I play in. The space set is also strongly flavored and gives real significant advantages for people that play that way.
New gear is poorly balanced mashup of features
Everybody is drooling over the new tactical damage++ consoles for obvious reasons, but is anybody seriously using the shield refrequencers or the ... other thing? Shouldn't defensive consoles from a defensive-minded species be really strong options for defense?
Final verdict:
Very ambitious, mostly fun, needed another month in design and testing to work out the kinks.
The Voth are cool.
They have a definite sense of identity, in the gear they use, their ship designs, and common tactical themes. They feel very much like a faction rather than a bag of generic parts. They're challenging to fight but not completely unfair.
The dinosaurs are goofy.
Seriously? You have a faction with giant mechs and it wasn't cool enough , so you had to give them dinosaurs?
The battlezone is fun and rewarding
Unlike some other reputations *cough* Nukara *cough*, I don't see myself ripping my hair out when I have to fight in the battlezone for the next few weeks. The payout is good and it's a solid way to give objective-based team gameplay without waiting for a queue.
The sphere space adventure is terrible by comparison
I feel bad for everybody that hates ground combat, because the space parts of the sphere are a convoluted mess next to the battlezone. It takes ages to get around, the quest system is alternately confusing and simplistic, and the rewards per time investment are laughable.
New instances are well done
Both of the new instances are fun to play and give the proper amount of strategic depth: Enough that planning pays off, but not so much that random teams are boned right out of the gate.
New instances are very confusing for first timers
Both of the new instances are poorly explained. They make perfect sense once you understand what's going on, but the briefings don't really help. Basically you're going to be incredibly confused and frustrated unless you play with an experienced team or watch a walkthrough.
Faster rep projects for grinders...
If you sit around and keep pressing the button, the new hourly project is a great accelerator.
...but we need the big projects for everybody else
This is going to be a very slow reputation for most people because we don't have 2 "big" projects this time around to set and forget. Which I think was a mistake.
Sets with an identifiable theme
I'm very interested to learn more about the Dyson ground set because it has a definite role and that role is one I play in. The space set is also strongly flavored and gives real significant advantages for people that play that way.
New gear is poorly balanced mashup of features
Everybody is drooling over the new tactical damage++ consoles for obvious reasons, but is anybody seriously using the shield refrequencers or the ... other thing? Shouldn't defensive consoles from a defensive-minded species be really strong options for defense?
Final verdict:
Very ambitious, mostly fun, needed another month in design and testing to work out the kinks.
Post edited by momaw on
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Comments
Couldn't disagree more. The one "big" Dyson project gives 2500 experience. The two "big" ones for any other Rep give 2000 and 800 for a total 2800.
Now compare gaining marks for any other rep to the Dyson "Dino-Wars" ground combat zone spewing Dyson marks like candy. Then add the 350 mark project that rewards 5 Commendations- that's 5 days of the 2500 experience mission, the marks can be gained in an hour easily then a 20 hour project and you're set for 5 days.
I've burned through the Dyson rep quickly, sitting at Tier 4 at the moment with enough Commendations to finish out Tier 5 ready to finish it up while I fight snowmen.
The only mistake would be the devs not retrofitting all the other Reps to work like Dyson.
I think the dinosaurs are both fun and goofy (and look forward to creative use of them in the Foundry, provided non-laser versions become available).
I think, in the end, the dinosaur inclusion wasn't a bad call but strapping lasers to them probably was. Would have been better, I think, for instance to have non-laser T-Rexes supplemented by Mecha-Voth rather than actually put lasers on the Rexes.
But overall, I agree with the OP with the rep caveats in the second post.
This is how I think reps should work and I'd welcome other reps being retrofitted like this.
Maybe it's a bit slower but it's not if you grind (and I appreciate this: it rewards grind rather than making it tedious) and the store unlocks ease the pain while project costs seem reasonable.
I enjoy Cryptic's episodic content, but generally, I play the mission on a few toons and I'm bored. And then I play it some more on other toons and, well ugh. Repeating the same puzzles, the same cut scenes, yadda-ya. It seems Cryptic is never going to be in a position to churn out episodic content at a reliable rate. I feel the Dyson Sphere is the next best thing.
I'd would like to see more battle zones introduced to the game. I was just thinking the other day, how anti-climatic the KDF-Fed war was through the episodic content, and how cool that story could be through battle zones that you could take part of. Maybe a neat pre-50 alternate way to level up.
So what didn't work in Dyson for me? Well, space is a little clumsy. The story is too far spread out and players are thinned. Everyone is kind of all over the place. I'm still not clear what events need to happen in order to trigger the next stage. I just jump in and do something. I think a better narrative to organize the players more should be taken into consideration for the next time. Also, the contested daily isn't available by hailing Joint Command, unlike the AZ daily. You have to find it in the mission log. I imagine a lot of players don't know it even exist.
Now the ground is another story. I love how fast pace the action is there. I think the biggest problem is the distribution of rewards. Occasionally, I end up in a zone with afkers doing nothing until the boss comes out. I've heard that the boss bonus is based off of zones turned, but I don't believe it. I have turned 10+ zones sometimes, and I have beamed down right when the bosses spawn. The amount of bonus dilithium for killing a boss is the same. That needs to change. The rewards need to be based off your contributions to total effort of flipping the zones.
My other problem with the ground is the command credits. Please, please issue this as a reward with the dilithium when turning a zone. I hate zerging against other players who have contributed the same effort I did. Or even worse having players who did nothing to flip the zone, come from nowhere and take them from the people who did. I think a modest amount of 10 to 15 would be generous.
But really though, I don't have too much bad to say. Again, I'm having fun with this content. I think Cryptic spent their resources and development time wisely here and I would like to see more.
Oh, and the Voth are easily the most fun enemy to fight in space encounters now. Have to worry about positioning, retargeting to take out Aceton Drones or Repair Ships, and they just plain use more abilities to mix things up. They're setting the bar much higher for any new races we encounter in STO, hopefully they'll live up to it.
Not any less goofy than space TRIBBLE. This is really a subjective point here; personally they don't bug me at all from a Trek standpoint and they're a blast to fight. "Goofy" is definitely accurate but for me this is the opposite of a bad thing.
Damn straight.
It's a lot better than Nukara and a little better than New Romulus, IMO. Especially the time investment thing. I can make more marks on space adventure zone alone than I can doing everything I can manage on Mol'Rihan in the same amount of time. If anything, the time/reward ratio in space adventure zone needs to be fitted to older zones.
Absolutely. I have some minor gripes with the city section of the Battlezone, but they're relatively minor compared to the overall bang-up job that whole place is.
Agreed. Took me a while to get my bearings. Totally worth suffering through, though.
Not really. 150 is a lot starting out but you have to be a hardcore no-lifer to capitalize on it to an effective degree. Which is why I find it hilarious there are enough people at T5 Dyson rep to make pointing out the lack of rewards a problem.
Not really. It's only an hour investment to milk the same 2800 per cycle you get from other reps out of Dyson rep. Since the big project for Dyson gives 2500, you just have to complete one 150 project and start another before you log out. Even if you only have enough time to start one, that's still 2650, not at all an insignificant amount towards your next tier.
Meh. Too generic sci-fi for me. Also, still a bit upset they wasted time on generic-looking armor instead of doing a Romulan-style endgame set for Omega rep or some other rep.
I don't pay that much attention to balance so here's the only point I can't weigh in on.
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It's definitely a lot better than some people give it credit for. A lot of folks are all bent out of shape over a lack of story content, and I get that, but that doesn't make this a bad season. We got a fair bit of new stuff that could go to a PvP revamp, for instance, and a lot of new potential Foundry assets. Not to mention, an hour or two of Battlezone can net you a day's worth of dil or more, making dil farming easier than ever (and more fun, though YMMV).
I think Seaosn 8's biggest problem was that it was the season after LoR dropped. This season could've been effectively perfect and it would still look bad since it wouldn't have been as big as LoR.
IMO in a month or two we'll see more opinions swing positive about S8.
I Support Disco | Disco is Love | Disco is Life
I like it better when you can compare it with the best episode, not the worst, but that's just me.
As for the season itself, I find it a bit empty. Not worst than New Romulus mind you, scanning rabbits and water was already boring the first time.
Also, I find the space map really bad. The allied area is New Romulus in space. Scan this, scan that, kill something... Nobody there anyway. The contested zone is incredibly repetitive. Kick the Voths from the towers, destroy the dreadnought, restart, yawn. Do you really feel it's a contested territory ? Which mean you unlock things as you keep them. You have incentive to fight. The only unlock is the bonus from the towers. No merchant, no Voth zone, nothing.
The rep grind is the usual, even worst. 2500rep/day instead of 2800. But then, the sponsorship is nice.
Fleet spire added a new power creep, only for fleets. As usual.
The new queued mission are not bad, they are just unbalanced, as usual. Why do storming the spire, when you can do the breach in the same amount of time, and earn so much more ?
Agreed. I think the Contested Zone would work better if it set up like the ground Battlezone. Meaning the towers have different objectives to capture them (add a few more towers too) and once enough of the Zone was captured "Boss" towers would unlock that would be defended by the Dreadnoughts. Then the Zone would reset afer three minutes as well.
Lifetime Sub since June 2010
I finally finished Season 8, but then realized it's just all Battle Zone Ground and Space/Allied Space. What happen to the storyline and the reason why we're at war with the Voth?
There is no storyline tie-in from VOY S3E23 "Distant Origin" regarding the Voth. I was thinking there was going to be an extra developed story for them as did the Iconians. Not like Breen, but more like how STO extended DS9 story with "Cardassian Struggle: Second Wave - Boldly They Rode." I finally get a vision from the prophets, "A hand that stays closed its not a hand." I was so excited and blown away by the quote! It make sense why they had to release the Dominion fleet lost in the wormhole, bringing the DS9 story to a close. Incredible!
There is no story about the City Ship, it's advance Technology, why they want to claim the Dyson Sphere, the Distant Origin Theory, Voth Doctrine, Ministry of Elders, Nekrit Expanse. It's just a full on battle!
I would think there would be at least be a trial, and you see the Voth mosaiced on the floor and develop more of a story. I guess STO wanted to put out a successful battlezone, than fill it with a storyline. I hope eventually they'll fill in in the story and add more than just the cannon series point out.
//
I wanted to give feedback on the PVE Storming the Spire.
Compared to the Borg PVEs, Storming the Sphere, to me feels one dimensional. Granted the first portion if it is hard if you don't have the right defensive shielding, but when you get to the part when ships fly out of the bunker is easy-peasy. I question how does this develop any story. Most of the PVEs are just quick game play to earn skill and rewards, not in depth and can be unattached to most of the STO storyline. Something is missing and I think I have the answer to it.
The title "Storming the Spire," is the bad guys storming it. How about a group of 20 person "storm" into the Spire and shoot down the Voth while half of the team is outside and half inside. The Battlezone has been praised as the best ground. It could be a strategic decision for teams to communicate and decide how to go about completing the PVE. I like how the Borg PVEs each have a step by step process (Not really too fond of the shields preventing you to respond back into the game though).
Though the story is 'Voth take control of an alien base,' it could be twisted to destroy one base, and if there is an obvious failure in ground storming, the entire Spire would blow up, and the space gamers would obviously know because they would be in the blast radius and their ships would blow up. It may be a little Star Wars-esque, shooting inside the Spire, and inside the ships hanger... but it would be cool.
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I don't mind Dinosaurs, but you need a storyline to say they are primitive Voth pets. Also when the T-Rex jumps and walks, the ground should shake as bombs and minds do.
dinosaurs with freaking lasers on their heads, that was enough. i played it for a day or so but like nakura i don't even notice it is there any longer.
Been around since Dec 2010 on STO and bought LTS in Apr 2013 for STO.
My responses:
1. Yes, very. I agree completely. 1 point.
2. Yes, they're goofy. What's wrong with that? TOS had the fricking rock monster and space TRIBBLE. And Captain Kirk. Goofiness is a very Trek thing. 1 point.
3. Battlezone is the single best combat zone in the entire game. 2 points for gratuitous player rewards.
4. I dunno. Space is slow compared to ground, but it's faster than Nukara (with fewer deaths) 1/2 point.
5. New instances have some bugs that can get you stuck in place. Also, they are tough for newbies. However, they are awesome and fun once you get used to them. 1/2 point.
6. Rep projects: Rewards system is nice, but the new STRUCTURE of the rep system is not. 1/2 point; I really don't like the new commendation/mark bifurcation.
7. New gear: Cool, but weak. I only know this secondhand from fleet members, but I can say that my fleet boss used the entire space set on a tactical warbird and couldn't kill my non-fleet t'varo despite me not moving or attacking. They're probably good for pve though. 1/2 point.
8. Forcing newbies to download ARC. 0 points for adding a feature no one wants, needs, or asked for, and -1 point for appalling lack of style.
Final verdict: 5 points out of 7 plus one bonus, minus one penalty.
Total score: 5 points out of 7. Better than Legacy of Romulus (marginally), but needed MUCH more time in testing and beta to iron out the kinks.